


Shadowhunters Unsolved

by TriciaLG



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Bonding while ghost hunting, Ghosts, Halloween, M/M, Simon Lewis & Alec Lightwood Friendship, or are there?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-28 21:47:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16250423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TriciaLG/pseuds/TriciaLG
Summary: Ghosts aren't real. Or at least that's what Alec thinks. What will it take to convince him otherwise? And is this all just some kind of joke? Alec enlists Simon's help to help him figure it all out, but they're not friends, right?





	Shadowhunters Unsolved

**Author's Note:**

> This all came to me because of some prompt a bunch of people were writing, 'It was you the entire time'. This was the first thing it made me think of, and with Halloween right around the corner, what better time to write something like this! This is probably the longest thing I've written in years, so any constructive criticism is appreciated. Hope you enjoy!

Not that Alec would ever admit it, but he was actually liking this show that Simon had suggested. Alec had grown up knowing that he’d be fighting demons his whole life, so watching a show focused on mundanes searching for proof of their existence hadn’t seemed like it could be interesting, but maybe Simon knew what he was talking about just this once, as the saying goes, a broken clock is right twice a day. 

“Who’d have thought that Alec Lightwood, a shadowhunter, would like Buzzfeed Unsolved?” Magnus teased him. They were lying together on the couch, Magnus’ laptop open on the coffee table as they watched the men, now using a Ouija board on the bridge. 

“I just relate to Shane,” Alec replied, “He’s tall and skeptical and the voice of reason.”

“Ah, yes, reason.” Magnus replied, “Like when they went searching for sasquatch?” Alec rolled his eyes, not that Magnus could see it from where Alec was resting his head on Magnus’ shoulder, but Magnus could always tell when he was rolling his eyes at him.

“Okay, not that, but with the ghosts.” Alec explained, “He doesn’t believe in ghosts, because they’re not real.”

“Yes they are.” Magnus answered, without missing a beat.

“What?” Alec said, pulling away from Magnus so he could look him in the eyes, “Ghosts aren’t real Magnus. Demons, yes. Fae, yes. Vampires, werewolves, and warlocks, yes, but not ghosts. The Clave has records of every supernatural creature, there is absolutely no proof of ghosts existing.”

“Okay, so if the Clave has no record of it, it doesn’t exist?” Magnus argued, “So by logic, I guess shadowhunters never hunted downworlders for trophies then either?”

“That’s not the same.” Alec said, “The Clave would have no reason to hide the existence of ghosts!”

“But ghosts might have reasons to hide their existence from shadowhunters,” Magnus countered, “Downworlders all know about ghosts.” 

“So you’re telling me that there is an international conspiracy to hide the existence of ghosts from shadowhunters?” Alec asked, disbelief coloring his voice.

“No, I’m just saying most downworlders wish they could go unnoticed by shadowhunters and aren’t going to spoil it for those who can.” Magnus explained, “Not me, of course” he quickly added as he saw the flicker of hurt in Alec’s eyes, “I personally enjoy being noticed, by one shadowhunter in particular.” His voice took on a deep, sensual quality to it as he said the last part, as he sat up to be closer to Alec, his right hand reaching around to rest on Alec’s lower back. Alec was sufficiently distracted; he didn’t spare another thought towards ghosts until the next day.

 

It wasn’t one thing that Alec could point to, but all day, he felt, just unsettled. Goosebumps on his arms, even though it was one of those unseasonably hot October days. He felt watched, which he knew was silly, he was the head of one of the largest, and after Valentine’s fixation on New York, arguably one of the most important institutes at only twenty-two, of course people were watching him. Even just growing up as the Lightwood heir, he was always being watched, so why did it feel so different today? 

Alec couldn’t afford to let anyone see him on edge today, so he closed himself off in his office, under the guise of needing quiet. Isabelle saw right through him, but if that’s the only person who could, he thought he was in good shape. 

By the time he got back to the loft, the disaster which had been the last time he asked to move in prevented him from thinking about it as ‘their loft’, Alec had forgotten about all of the weird feelings of being watched that day, because Magnus met him at the door, drinks in hand, and drew him out onto the balcony. Alec was quickly lost in the feeling of lying next to Magnus on the daybed out on the balcony, listening to him and watching the sun set. 

 

 

“Maia!” Alec greeted as he walked into the Hunter’s Moon. Her boyfriend was sitting at the bar in front of her, the two were in conversation when he had walked in, so he too settled at the bar, next to Simon.  
“Alec, I haven’t seen you in a while, been busy?” She asked, reaching for a glass to start making him a drink. Alec was grateful for the, he never knew what to order, or usually what he was drinking, He would just tell Maia when he liked something she made him, and she’d adjust her choices for him accordingly. 

“Not too bad,” Alec told her, “But Magnus and I started watching a new series, so it’s been easy to just stay home with him.” He admitted, a slight blush coloring his cheeks as he remembered what they had gotten up to the previous night when they had decided to stay in again. 

“Ooh, does that mean you started watching Buzzfeed Unsolved like I said you should?” Simon asked him.

“No.” Alec denied, although now his plan hit a snag. He couldn’t ask about ghosts now without Simon knowing that he was lying about watching the show.

“Oh, speaking of Buzzfeed Unsolved,” Maia began, “Did I ever tell you about that time I saw a ghost?” 

“No!” Simon exclaimed, “Ghosts are real? Well, I guess that makes sense, I mean if angles and demons and vampires and werewolves and warlocks are real, why not ghosts! Ooh, Alec! Is Goatman a real demon? What about Mothman? Sasquatch?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Alec denied, “And anyway, ghosts aren’t real.”

“Are you calling me a liar, Lightwood?” Maia said, accusatorily.

“Maia! I can’t believe this!” Simon exclaimed, “We’ve been dating for months now and you haven’t told me? This is first date kind of stuff!”

“That’s because it never happened, because ghosts aren’t real.” Alec said in his usual monotone voice that he only brought out when dealing with Simon. 

“It’s because it hadn’t happened by our first date.” Maia said, ignoring Alec’s comments. “It happened back when Jace locked me up in the cells at the Institute. It was just outside of the cell, staring at me.”

“That’s impossible.” Alec said again, “I had to look over all of that footage to make sure there weren’t any major breaches of the Accords,” Alec said, “Besides the obvious.” He amended, “I never saw anything.”

“Oh, so your people tried to chip me, locked me up, and now you’re telling me what I saw?” Maia asked, “I should kick you out.”

“Guys!” Simon exclaimed, “I just thought of something, wasn’t Magnus locked in that same cell when he switched bodies with Valentine? We could ask him if he saw anything!”

“How did you hear about that?” Alec snapped defensively.

“Clary told me, she tells me everything.” Simon replied.

“Even when it’s not hers to tell.” Alec muttered.

“We could ask him.” Maia said, “Even if he didn’t see it then, he’s been in the institute enough he’s probably seen it, and maybe you’ll actually believe your boyfriend.” 

“No.” Alec said, “I think Magnus is lying to me, trying to convince me that ghosts are real. In fact, I’m almost starting to think he paid you off to tell your little ghost story.” Alec said, making a vague gesture toward Maia.

“You really think your boyfriend would lie to you about ghosts, then rope other people into his lie?” Simon asked, “That’s starting to sound a little-“

“Tin-foil hat-ish?” Maia finished.  
“I was just going to say paranoid, but yeah.” Simon agreed. 

“Are you saying that would be too ‘extra’ for Magnus?” Alec asked. 

“Alec! You’re using slang! I’m so proud of you!” Simon shouted, drawing looks from everyone in the bar.

“Have you ever considered that your reaction is the reason that I don’t?” Alec asked and Maia tried to hide her smile by taking a sip of the drink she was probably not supposed to be having on the clock.

“I’m just saying,” Simon started, “Magnus loves you, why would he lie to you?”

“Speaking of your boo.” 

“No.” Alec interrupted.

“Where is Magnus?” Maia finished, smirking at Alec’s bothered expression. 

“He’d better get here soon.” Alec muttered, “before I get too fed up with the two of you and just leave.”

“Oh, don’t lie to us, we’re your best friends and you know it.” Simon told him. Alec paled, but before he could respond, Magnus walked it, like he was summoned. He kissed Alec on the cheek before slipping into the seat next to him. 

“What have you three been talking about? You look like you’ve seen a ghost, darling.” Magnus said, placing a hand on Alec’s upped arm. 

“Oh, nothing.” Alec said, shaking himself out of his thoughts as Maia brought Magnus his usual. “Come on, let’s go play.” He said, guiding Magnus towards the pool table, not sparing a look back at the other two. 

 

 

“Jace,” Alec greeted warmly, even though Jace had barged into his office unannounced. “What’s wrong?” He asked, once he had time to take in Jace’s concerned expression. 

“I think I just saw a ghost.” Jace said bluntly. 

“What?” Alec asked in disbelief. Had Magnus also turned his Parabatai against him?

“Okay, so an alarm went off down in the cells, and I went to go check it out.” Jace began, sitting on the edge of Alec’s desk, no care for the papers he was messing up. “But no one’s down there, so I just went alone. I thought it was just a sensor error or something. But when I got down there, the alarm had shut itself off, and there was no sign of anyone down there. Then the lights did that thing where they go off randomly because you switched everything to motion sensors to save electricity, and I saw this silhouette blocking the light from the hallway.”

“A silhouette?” Alec asked. 

“Yeah, it was dark, and clearly blocking the light, but I couldn’t see any details, but when I went to walk closer, the lights came back on and it was gone.” Jace finished. “I don’t know what it was, but I’m not going back down there.”

“Afraid of the shadows?” Alec teased, hiding his concern. It was one thing when it was just Maia telling stories, and bad feelings, but this was starting to get concerning. He still didn’t believe it was a ghost, but it had to be something, and if that something was in the Institute, he had to get to the bottom of it. 

“Ah, fuck you.” Jace told him, “You go down there then.” 

“I will.” Alec said, standing up. “Come on, show me where you saw this shadow.” 

The pair made their way to the cells and Jace pointed out where he had seen the shadow. They ever waited for the lights to turn out, but saw nothing. Alec just told Jace to take the rest of the day off and get some sleep. He hoped it was nothing and not some symptom of Jace’s possession returning. Hell, he’s actually rather a ghost to that. 

 

When Underhill came to him, Alec knew it couldn’t be a joke anymore. Magnus might have been able to get Maia to lie to him and Jace to see something, but Underhill was loyal to him and couldn’t be swayed for something like a prank. 

“What is it?” Alec asked him. 

“I just saw something, well, weird.” Underhill told him uncertainly.

“In the cells?” Alec guessed.

“Yes. Did you see it too?” Underhill sounded almost relieved, like he was getting validation that he had actually seen something and not just imagined the whole thing.

“No, but there have been a few unexplained sightings there.” Alec said. “Was it a shadow? That’s what Jace saw.”

“No, it was a cloud.” Underhill said, “Like fog, one minute there was nothing, then the next I could barely see my hand in front of my face.”

“Fog?” Alec repeated, “That shouldn’t be possible. Have you checked the climate control settings? Maybe it’s malfunctioning.”

“I checked that before I came to you.” Underhill said, “’I also checked the cctv footage, there’s nothing.”

“Nothing?” Alec asked, “Like, it was wiped?”

“No, it’s all there.” Underhill answered, “There’s just no sight of the fog anywhere.”

“Really?” Alec asked, intrigued, “Show me.” Underhill made his was over to Alec’s desk, and with his permission, took Alec’s tablet and brought up the footage. He was right, there was no sign of the fog, other than Underhill’s reaction. Alec watched as he stopped, and looked around, confused, at nothing, then a few seconds later, brought his hands up in front of him, like he was trying to see them but couldn’t. 

“I don’t know how to explain it.” Underhill said when it was over.

“I believe you.” Alec told him, looking him in the eyes. “I know you’re not making this up.”

“Thank you, sir.” Underhill said, clearly relieved. 

“I hate to ask this.” Alec said, “But could you keep this quiet, until I can look into it more?”

“I wasn’t exactly itching to tell everyone.” He said

“Thanks.” Alec said, “And if you hear anyone else talking about something weird happening in the Institute, especially in the cells, would you let me know immediately?”

“Of course sir.” Underhill said. “Do you need anything else from me?”

“No, you’re dismissed.” Alec said, bust as Underhill turned to leave, he added, “I’ll let you know first if I find anything.” 

“Thank you.” Underhill told him sincerely, before he left. 

 

 

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Simon asked, as he slid into the booth opposite Alec.

“Keep your voice down.” Alec hissed, and after Simon was quiet for a moment, he continued, “How, and this is completely hypothetical-“

“Hypothetical, of course.” Simon interjected. Alec glared at him, then continued again..

“How would one go about finding a ghost?” Alec asked. 

“I thought you didn’t believe in ghosts?” Simon asked, and from anyone else it would have come out as taunting, but from Simon, it felt like a genuine question. Alec sort of appreciated that about Simon.

“I didn’t,” Alec began, before he thought better of it, “I don’t.” he amended, “But I can’t deny there is something weird going on in the institute. It cannot continue.”

“Oh, this’ll be great!” Simone started, “We can be the new ghost hunters, or the Buzzfeed Unsolved guys! You’d be Shane, obviously.”

“I preferred Ruining History.” Alec said, before he realized the implications of what he said.

“Wait, you’ve seen Buzzfeed Unsolved?” Simon asked in disbelief. “You said you hadn’t! Unless you watched all of them in the past two days, which I would totally understand if you had, I mean, I nearly did that myself when I first watched it.” 

“Simon.” Alec cut in, “Let’s focus. The ghost in the Institute.”

“Oh, right. Well first we should figure out who has already seen the ghost.” Simon began, “I already know about Maia, who else?”

“Jace saw something.” Alec said, “But others have reported weird things. Underhill saw a bunch of mist in a hallway down by the cells. Rosenzweig saw a glass panel shatter, but when maintenance went down to replace it, there wasn’t a scratch on it. Izzy and Clary just said they had a bad feeling when they walked through.”

“Interesting.” Simon said, “What about you?”

“What do you mean?” Alec asked.

“Well, have you been down there?” Simon asked, “Did you see anything?”

“Yes,” Alec said slowly, like he was explaining something to a child, “I went down there after ever incident. I haven’t seen a thing. Or felt anything.” He added.

“Maybe it was a Shadowhunter.” Simon speculated, “ And it respects your authority, as Head.” 

“I don’t think so.” Alec said, “But, you’re the expert on this kind of thing.” 

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m an expert on ghosts exactly-“ Simon began.

“I mean you’re an expert on things that aren’t real.” Alec corrected. 

“hey!” Simon complained, “That doesn’t sound like someone who came to me for help!”

“Alright,” Alec conceded, “Just tell me what to do.”

“I’m gonna have to see it for myself.” Simon told him.

“Oh, I can arrange that, easily!’ Alec said, a little too quickly.

“Not from inside a cell!” Simon clarified.

“Oh come on. How am I supposed to explain that?” Alec asked. “Fine,” He said finally, when Simon said nothing, “Tomorrow. Nine o’clock. Say you’re there to see Clary.”

“Oh, I thought you had finally admitted that we’re friends!” Simon shouted after Alec as he was already getting up to leave. 

 

The next day passed uneventfully, although that might have had more to do with no one daring to go down to the cells, rather than a lack of unexplained phenomena happening. It was almost quarter to nine when Alec got a surprise. 

“Knock, knock.” A voice came from the open doorway to his office. Alec looked up to see Magnus standing there. 

“hey,” He said, standing to greet Magnus. After quickly embracing, Alec pulled back to look at his boyfriend, “What are you doing here?” 

“Why, are you hiding something from me?” Magnus joked.

“What?” Alec asked, a little too forcefully. “No! I’m just really busy tonight. I don’t want you to have come all thing way just to watch me work all night.”

“Well then don’t worry.” Magnus told him, “Your sister called me in to take a look at the warding on the cells. Particularly the one that broke, but didn’t?” 

“Oh, that.” Alec said, not meeting Magnus’ eyes. He couldn’t lie to Magnus when he was looking at him, Magnus could always tell, he said it was his eyes that betrayed him. “It’s probably nothing, just Rosenzweig seeing things from lack of sleep. I’ll give him a few days off to rest.” 

“Probably.” Magnus agreed, although his voice said that he did anything but agree. “I’ll see you tonight? Or do you have too much work for that?” 

“I’ll be home tonight.” Alec promised. Magnus smiled, then placed a chaste kiss on his lips before leaving. Alec felt bad for lying to Magnus, but unless he was sure that there was really a ghost haunting the Institute, he wasn’t going to say anything to Magnus. And he certainly wasn’t about to own up to willingly spending time with Simon.

Alec turned back to his desk to finish the personnel transfer forms he had been working on before Magnus had come it, but his tablet wasn’t on his desk. He looked around, confused, he had put it down right on his desk before getting up to greet Magnus. There was no possible way it could be anywhere else. He looked at the ground, by his chair, in case he had knock it off, although he thought he would have remembered hearing it hit the ground. He hoped that wherever it was, the screen wasn’t broken. It was really becoming an expense to keep replacing all off the cracked screens around the institute, Jace cracked his so often, Alec has started making him just keep it cracked for the next week, to try to teach him a lesson.

It wasn’t under his chair, so he stood up and surveyed the room. There it was! Sitting, thankfully unharmed, on the coffee table. Alec scratched his head as he walked over to pick it up. He knew he had been working on it right before Magnus came it, and he hadn’t been on this side of the room since. There was no possible explanation for how it could have been placed this far away. 

Alec shrugged, at least he had found it. He had to finish the forms quickly so he could intercept Simon when he first came into the Institute, so he drew hid focus back to the forms, trying to forget the incident. 

 

It was around nine, so Alec made his way to the main enterance, hoping he could catch Simon before too many people saw him, especially Clary. She would be the one person the ‘I’m here to see Clary’ wouldn’t work on, and Alec was not very confident in Simon’s skills to make up a believable story for her on the spot. 

As soon as he was Simon approach, at nearly quarter after, Alec hurried down the steps to him, stopping him before he could trigger the proximity alarm.

“Turn around. Walk with me.” Alec told him, grabbing Simon’s upper arm with one hand and using it to turn him around and pull him along with him. 

“What’s going on?” Simon asked, confused, but genuinely concerned. 

“We’re delaying the plan.” Alec said, “Something came up.”

“Wait, what happened?” Simon asked. 

“Izzy called Magnus to look at the glass that Rosenzweig said he saw break.” Alec stated, “And since I’m still not counting out all of this being some kind of elaborate prank of Magnus’s, I’m not going to say anything to him until I’m sure that there is something going on, so we have to delay the plan until he is done looking around.

“Even after all of this, you still suspect your boyfriend?” Simon asked.

“It makes more sense that ghosts being real.” Alec told him, although Alec was beginning to doubt that. The evidence was really starting to pile up, and not in his favor. 

They arrived at a small diner that was open late, a few blocks away from the institute. It was always empty when Alec went there, he thought it probably only stayed in business because the Shadowhunters frequented it at all hours of the night, coming back from late night patrol, or just midnight coffee runs. It had good food though, he always made a point of recommending it to any visiting shadowhunters.

“You wait here until I text you.” He told Simon.

“What am I supposed to do?” Simon asked, “I don’t eat, remember?”

“I don’t care.” Alec told him. “Just get a coffee and sit there warming your hands on the mug. Maybe the waitress will think you’re homeless and let you stay there to keep warm.”

Simon glared at him, but Alec didn’t notice, he was already making his way into the diner. He made his way to the counter and ordered a flat white, and a double-shot red-eye. 

“I have to have a reason why I left.” Alec explained at Simon’s confused look. 

“Why two?” Simon asked.

“One’s for Magnus.” Alec explained, like it should have been obvious to Simon.

 

When Alec finally got back to the Institute, Alec nearly ran right into Magnus as he was exiting the elevator with Izzy. 

“Oh, Alexander!” Magnus said in surprise, his hands grabbing a hold of Alec’s upper arms to keep them both upright and steady. 

“Hey,” Alec said in surprise. “Are you done already?” 

“Yes, it didn’t seem like there was anything wrong with the glass at all.” Magnus said, “I can give you a full written report if you would like?”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary.” Alec told him, “I didn’t even think it was really necessary to bring you in for something as stupid as this.”

“Nonsense!” Magnus told him, “It seems like there is something going on here that you can’t explain, of course I’ll help you out darling!”

“I don’t think it’s really much of anything.” Alec lied, “But if it turns out to be something, I’ll keep that in mind.” Alec promised, he handed Magnus one of the coffees in his hands, “Here, I got you something for your troubles.” 

“Oh, thank you darling.” Magnus told him, “but you didn’t have to do that. If you had told me earlier you wanted coffee, I’d have summoned some for the both of us.”

“It was more of an excuse to stretch my legs.” Alec lied, he was worried that he might be getting too good at lying to Magnus. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work. I want to finish soon I believe I have someone dashingly handsome waiting for me that I want to get home to as quickly as I can.” 

“Oh, well I’ll finish your work if you want to go home now.” Isabelle offered, and any other night he would want to hug his sister for letting him spend more time with Magnus, but tonight was the one time he couldn’t take her up on it.

“I have a few reports I have to send to the Inquisitor.” Alec lied, “I really have to do them myself, but thanks Izzy.” He said, offering a mournful look at Magnus, hoping to express the regret he felt about not leaving with him then.

“Well, I best be going.” Magnus said, “ I’ll see you at home.” He stepped closer to kiss Alec’s cheek before he made his way out the double doors of the Institute, pushing both doors out of his way without ever touching either.

“What was that?” Izzy asked him once Magnus was out of earshot. “I know you don’t have ay reports to send to the Inquisitor.”

“Okay I lied.” Alec admitted to her, “But I don’t want Magnus to know how seriously I’m taking thing whole ghost thing.” He pulled out his phone to text Simon the all clear.

“How seriously are you taking this whole ghost thing?” Izzy asked him.

“I called Simon for help.” Alec confessed. 

“Simon?” Izzy confirmed.

“Yeah, I figured he’s a nerd, he’s probably watched a bunch of those mundane ghost hunting shows, she he’s probably the closest thing to an expert we could get.”

“I mean, you could ask Magnus,” Izzy said, “He’s probably a better resource for telling you if something is actually real, and not just in mundane fiction.”

“I could.” Alec admitted, “But I just have this feeling that something about this isn’t adding up. I mean, all of this started happening right after Magnus and I started watching this ghost show, the timing feels too convenient.”

“Alec, are you saying you think this might all just be Magnus messing with you?” Isabelle asked him.

“Look, I know it sounds paranoid.” Alec said, “and it’s just a feeling, but you and I both know how important it is to trust your gut feelings. If it turns out to be something, I’ll ask Magnus about it, but until then-“

“You’ll investigate with Simon like a pair of Mundies?” Izzy finished.

Alec was spared from answering by Simon’s arrival.

“Izzy, how are you?” Simon asked as he came to stand next to the pair of siblings, “I’m here to visit Clary.” He added, like he just remembered his cover story.

“She knows.” Alec told him bluntly.

“Oh, good.” Simon said, relieved, “I cannot lie well.” He confessed.

“We know.” Alec and Izzy said in unison.

“Come on, let’s get to it before it gets too late.” Alec said, pressing the down call button on the elevator. “I want to get home before Magnus gets suspicious.” 

 

It had been a warm day, for October, with weather in the high sixties, but it had felt warmer in the sun. Since the sun had set though, the temperature had dropped dramatically. It was even worse now the pair was below ground. Alec had left his leather jacket in his office, which left him in just his shirt. He pulled down the sleeves from where they had been pushed up to his elbows. 

“is it cold?” Simon asked him. Alec had forgotten for a moment that since Simon was a vampire, he couldn’t feel the cold, Alec was the only one cold here. 

“A bit.” Alec admitted. He wasn’t usually one to complain, but he didn’t want to lie to Simon right now, in case it meant something.

“That’s a sign!” Simon hissed, “There could be a ghost here right now!”

“Simon, we’re in a stone building, underground.” Alec state, “It’d be more shocking if it wasn’t cold.”

“Okay!” Simon said, raising his hands in surrender, “No need to snap.” 

“I wasn’t snapping.” Alec grumbled. “Let’s just look around and get out of here. What do we do first?”

“umm,” Simon began, “I guess we go to where people have seen things happen?” Simon said uncertainly. 

“You guess?” Alec asked, “Simon do you even know what you’re doing here?” 

“Um, no? I’ve never gone ghost hunting before!” Simon snapped. Alec was about to shout something back when the lights all went out. Even when the power goes out, or the newly installed, green-initiative motion sensor lights turned out, there would be emergency lights, giving off enough light to make your way through the hallways, but there was absolutely no light anywhere down here. 

“Ow!” Alec shouted, “Simon! You stepped on my foot!”

“Sorry!” He yelped, his voice noticeably higher than its usual pitch. “I can’t see anything.”

“Aren’t you a vampire?” Alec asked, “Shouldn’t you be able to see in the dark?”

“Usually, yes, but this is a different kind of dark.” Simon replied, “Darker.” Alec rolled his eyes.

“Darker?” he asked.

“Shut up!” Simon hissed at him. 

“kill the vampire…” a voice hissed in his ear, and Alec whipped around, but still saw nothing in the darn.

“Did you hear that?” Alec asked, his voice tense.

“Hear what?” Simon asked. 

“Never mind.” Alec said quickly. 

“Hear what Alec?” Simon asked louder, panicking.

“It was probably just the wind.” Alec lied. Even he had to admit that he was starting to believe that there might be something down here. He wouldn’t go so far as to admit it was a ghost. Maybe Valentine’s soul never fully made its way back after Azazel switch him and Magnus and it was haunting the cells. It might explain the anti-Downworlder sentiments being whispered in his ear. 

“What?” Simon said out of nowhere.

“What do you mean what?” Alec hissed back.

“Didn’t you just say my name?” Simon asked, his voice getting higher again.

“No.” Alec said. He reached into his pocket to pull out his phone.. He was planning on using the flashlight app. He pressed the home button, but nothing happened, he must have turned it off on accident. He held down the power button to turn it on, and again nothing happened. 

“My phone’s dead.” He said to Simon. He heard rustling as Simon reached for his phone, then after a second,

“Mine too.” Simon said.

“That makes no sense.” Alec said, “I had it charging in my office right up until I left to meet you. There is no way the battery should be dead.”

“I had nearly eighty percent the last time I checked.” Simon agreed. Alec really didn’t like this. 

“Did you hear that?” Simon asked. Alec shook his head, before he realized the Simon wouldn’t be able to see it, but it seemed Simon realized that too as he continued without further prompting. “It sounds like footsteps.” He said. Alec listened, and now that he was listening for them, he thought he could hear them too. They sounded like they were almost right on top of the pair, and Alec moved unconsciously to the side of the corridor. His hand brushed up against the wall ad he felt something wet.

Alec will vehemently deny it until the day he dies, but he let out a sound, a mix of a gasp and a yelp, as he pulled his hand back from the wall, jumping away, and into Simon.

“Woah!” Simon shouted as Alec collided with him and they both fell to the ground. As they hit the ground, the lights flickered back on and the two men were left staring at a wall, covered in dripping red fluid. 

“Is that-“ Alec began.

“Blood.” Simon confirmed before he was dragged to he feet by Alec’s hand fisted in his shirt. Alec dragged him and a brisk pace, just a step below a flat out run, back to the elevator, slapping at the call button with all his force. 

Once the two were back, safely in the elevator, Simon began to snap out of the shocked state he had been in ever since the lights came back on. 

“What the fuck just happened?” Simon asked. Alec was leaning against the walls of the elevator, breathing fast and hard. He slowly slid to the ground, staring at his hands, still covered in red blood.

“Alec!” Simon shouted again, this time Alec heard him, looking us at Simon, still breathing fast. 

“I think the Institute might be haunted.” Alec said, his voice just barely a whisper, but Simon heard him loud and clear, the adrenaline pumping through his body heightening all of his senses. 

“You think?” Simon nearly shouted, before he looked down at Alec, who was staring at his bloody hands. “hey, look, I’m sure this isn’t that bad.” He said uncertainly, “Magnus will take care of it! You just need to tell him about it.” He sat down next to Alec on the floor of the elevator, looking at Alec uncertainly before he reached for Alec’s hand. He brought it close to his face, sniffing at the blood. “It’s pigs blood, not human.” He offered. Alec let out a humorless laugh before leaning his head onto Simon’s shoulder.

“Thanks Simon.” He said, before adding, quieter, “I’m glad you were with me tonight.” 

“Does this mean you finally admit I’m your best friend?” Simon asked.

“Not best friend.” Alec said quickly, “but yes, you are my friend.”

 

 

Alec was still out of it when he finally made his way back to the loft. He didn’t want to make the long trek to Brooklyn that late at night, but spending the night alone was unthinkable to him. Thankfully Magnus was still awake when he came home, sitting on the couch with an old yellowed book open in his lap.

“Alexander!” He said, moving to get up once he saw Alec. “What’s wrong?”

“I think the Institute is haunted.” Alec confessed. “I can’t think of any other explanation for what I was tonight.” Magnus almost smiled for half a second before he managed to control himself, putting a concerned look on his face, but Alec didn’t miss it. 

“It was you, wasn’t it!” Alec accused. “It was you the entire time! Everyone made me out to be a horrible person for even suspecting you, but it was you!”

“Alec, I can explain!” Magnus said, raising his hands in surrender as he backed away from his enraged boyfriend. 

“No! There is no explanation for this!” Alec raged. 

“It got you to finally admit to yourself that you and Simon are friends.” Magnus offered, which only seemed to fan the flames of Alec’s anger. 

“Is that what this was all about? Simon?” Alec shouted, “Magnus! I trusted you!”

“Come on Alec!” Magnus tried again, “You two have been friends for months, but you wouldn’t admit it! Maia and I-“

“Maia?” Alec interrupted, “I knew she was in on this!”

“Baby,” Magnus tried, trying to put an arm around Alec, but Alec pulled away, “Baby,” he tried again, “I’m sorry, It was never supposed to go this far.” Alec turned to look at him, encouraging him to go on. 

Magnus reached for Alec again, this time Alec didn’t pull away. “It was just supposed to be some flickering lights, maybe a few noises, but then you didn’t say anything to me, so I thought I had to do more, to get a reaction from you.” Alec huffed, “I’m sorry baby, please, I’ll make it up to you.” Magnus promised. 

Alec muttered something that sounded a lot like ‘you better’ to Magnus.   
“Come on, it’s late, let’s go to bed.” Magnus said, leading Alec towards the bedroom, before he added, “’I can start to make it up to you there.” 

 

This time Alec arrived together with Magnus to the Hunter’s Moon. Simon was sitting at the bar across from Maia, but they were practically the only people there. Alec sat down next to Simon, who smiled at him in acknowledgement, while he was listening to Maia. 

“So,” Simon started after Alec and Magnus had settled in and Maia had gone off to get them their drinks. “I take it you heard about their plan too?” 

“Yup.” Alec said, pointedly not looking at Magnus, despite Magnus’s arm around his waist. 

“And you still haven’t forgiven him either?” Simon continued.

“Nope.” Alec answered.

“He made me sleep on the couch.” Magnus complained. “Which would have been fine, if I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night to him joining me on the couch because he didn’t want to sleep alone.” Alec blushed at that, but he still leaned back into Magnus’s embrace anyway, he was among friends here, he could relax a bit.


End file.
